Wheaton Academy (WA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

in West Chicago, Illinois, which was established as part of the Illinois Institute by a group of evangelical

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

in 1853. The Illinois Institute was reorganized into Wheaton College and Wheaton College Academy, a preparatory school, in 1860. Wheaton Academy established an independent campus in West Chicago in 1945.

History

Wheaton Academy was founded as a part of the Illinois Institute in 1853 by

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

. In 1855, they were granted permission to form a college. The first head of the school was Jonathan Blanchard. At this time, the institute was organised into Wheaton College, and a prep school, known as Wheaton College Academy. In 1915, under Dean William Rice, the academy began to achieve its own identity, by acquiring its own separate faculty and building on the campus of Wheaton College. In 1945, the school moved off of the Wheaton College campus to a location in West Chicago, Illinois. The school was equipped with

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

for boarding students. The Aurora and Elgin train line also ran north of the schools location, making it accessible to student commuters. In 1951, campus facilities were complete. Until 1963, Wheaton College was still financially supporting the academy. After 1963, support for the academy waned, and in 1970, Wheaton College decided to close the academy permanently. Parents and board members, however, eager to see the institution survive, continued the school themselves. It was renamed to Wheaton Christian High School, and the dormitories were closed. The school underwent building advancements in 1979 and 1983, respectively. In 1995, the school was again renamed to Wheaton Academy. The school completed building advancements in 2025 to replace a section of the old campus, known as Academy Hall. In its stead, the building additions include a new business center and Idea Lab space.

Academics

WA is a member of the

Association of Christian Schools International The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), founded in 1978, is an international organization of evangelical Christian schools. Its headquarters are in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It offers tiers of oversight, from school accredit ...

, recognized by the state of Illinois and the DuPage County Education Service Region. The school was awarded a National Blue Ribbon from the U.S. Department of Education in 2019. The school offers classes in all core subjects, in addition to a variety of electives in

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

, media arts,

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, and

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

. The school also offers a variety of AP classes accredited by the CollegeBoard. Wheaton Academy offers three foreign languages at various levels: French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

Academic facilities

Wheaton Academy has 3 buildings used for academics. The Academic Building (main building) hosts a variety of classes, including

math Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

s, and English, along with several non-traditional classes. Academy Hall was used for

classes taught in its historic building and was used as storage space, until its demolition in 2023. The

s facilities include a multipurpose performance hall, a

room, and a

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

s studio. Students can access a maker space called the “Idea Lab” with woodworking materials, laser cutter machines, welding and metallurgy equipment, and 3D printers. The athletic building is utilised for

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

classes.

Athletics

The "Warriors" compete in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, boys' basketball, girls' basketball, boys' cross country, girls' cross country,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, boys' golf, girls' golf, boys' lacrosse, boys' soccer, girls' soccer,

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, boys' tennis, girls' tennis, girls' volleyball, boys' volleyball, and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. Until 2023, the academy was a member of the Metro Suburban Conference of the

Illinois High School Association The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National F ...

. After the 2023 school year they joined the new Chicagoland Christian Conference. They also offer boys and girls swimming and sideline cheering.

State titles

† Tie

Athletic facilities

The school's athletic facilities include Heritage Fieldhouse with four basketball courts, Performance Trust Field for football, soccer, and lacrosse, one baseball and one softball diamond, seven tennis courts, and a weight room.

Notable alumni

Business

* Wess Stafford, class of 1967, chief executive, activist, and author * Robert Van Kampen, class of 1960, businessman and founder of Van Kampen Investments

Christian ministry

* Robert Kenneth Strachan, missionary * Jon M. Sweeney, class of 1985, writer

Politics and culture

* Randy Hultgren, class of 1984, congressman * Todd Beamer, class of 1985, passenger on

United Airlines Flight 93 United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a feder ...

during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

Sports

* Jake Cousins, class of 2013, MLB player * Ryan Dzingel, class of 2010, NHL player * Christian Fischer, class of 2013, NHL player * Leah Fortune, class of 2009,

Brazil women's national football team The Brazil women's national football team ( Portuguese: ''Seleção Brasileira Feminina de futebol'') represents Brazil in international women's football and is run by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It has participated in all nine ...

* Grant Stoneman, class of 2014, USL player * Crystal Thomas, class of 2012, NWSL player * JD Gunn, class of 2018, MLS Next Pro player

References

{{authority control 1853 establishments in Illinois Christian schools in Illinois Educational institutions established in 1853 Nondenominational Christian schools in the United States Private high schools in Illinois Schools in DuPage County, Illinois West Chicago, Illinois